Recently, container-based software components have been developed for object oriented computing environments. These software components (e.g., application programs) can interact with a “container” which can typically provide various standard functions (e.g., security, networking, etc.). This offers many advantages, for example, ease of use and reusability.
To elaborate, in Sun Microsystems' Enterprise JavaBeans component architecture, and in Microsoft Corporation's Component Object Model (COM), a container is an application program or subsystem in which the program building block known as a component is run. For example, a component, such as a button, a small calculator, or a database requester, can be developed using Enterprise JavaBeans that can run in application servers.
In today's computing environments, there is often a need to upgrade software components. As such, it is desirable to perform software upgrades in an efficient way. Moreover, for some applications, it is highly desirable to perform software upgrades without having to shut down the system. Unfortunately, conventional techniques do not allow software upgrades to be performed without having to shut down the system or otherwise degrade the performance of the system in some other manner. Typically, services being performed have to be interrupted to allow for the upgrade. In some cases, interruption of services can be very costly, thus need to be avoided.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved techniques for upgrading software components.